Thanks for this thread, it does make me think my procedures over, even though I think they are good.

Because I am really used to double check everything (when rope soloing even triple check), so far I haven't made any mistakes that I did not correct before I started climbing (or my partner, when I was on belay), apart from the following:

- at one of my first lead climbs, I did clip in to the anchor, pulled the rope through, and attached the knot (fig 8) I made with a biner to my harness. After being lowered, I found that the biner was not locked. That is a mistake I will never make again! After reflecting on it, I think this was due to the fact that it was one of my first leads, and I was too focused on what I needed to do at the anchor. Totally missed the fact that clipping the rope to my harness was one of the most important details! It did scare the hell out of me when I was back down again. - during another climb, my belayer was warned by another belayer that her biner only went through 1 plate of the Grigri. Both of us had done the partner and the self check, both of us had not seen this though ( we did not even realize this could happen without showing very clearly). Needless to say that after that, I always make sure I cannot miss this one!

2 weeks ago in France I made another mistake though, even while not during the climb itself. It was getting kind of late and I just had rope solo'ed a 2 pitch route (my first multi pitch route even). In a hurry to get my gear packed, I started pulling the rope from the last anchor, and then saw a knot in the end that was moving up. That knot was about 20 feet from the ground already. Stupid stupid beginners mistake. Since the route was pretty easy, I climbed those 20 feet free solo, untied the knot and climbed back (on my approach shoes, it was a pretty easy route). Better of course would have been to tie the other end of the rope to a ground anchor again, and used the silent partner even on those 20 feet, but I felt confident enough to do it this way. Lesson learned: When in a hurry, double your focus on the checks you do normally, as you tend to forget things. Both being in a hurry and being tired created room for mistakes.

It was the end of a long day, I was tired, and I sacrificed some margin of safety by....

If you can learn one lesson from the experience, it's this: When you're feeling fried, slow down and do everything you can to insure that you're not fucking something up, because your normal instincts may not be up to the task of keeping you safe.

I once set up a toprope at the New River Gorge, had 3 new climbers on the ground, threaded my figure 8 descender on the rope below the opposed double locking biners, saw a Copper Head snake about 5 feet from me, started to lower off with the tr biners in my hand, I am now totally over the edge, look down....forgot to clip figure 8 to my harness! 100 ft off the ground holding the tr anchor lines. luckily pulled myself back up and quivered like a wet dog for a few minutes.totally forgot about the snake...then walked down..haha got lucky that day. I still have nightmares of it.

I can only remember 2 mistakes. My shitfests are entered into by conscious decision. One was nearly lowering off the end off the rope. The other...

Winter solo. Snow and ice climb. I start heading up at dusk. Bivy about 1am, and catch a few hours sleep. Up again and climbing, the sun comes up, I reach for my sunglasses....and they're not there. Then I remember sitting on the tailgate to tie my boots and setting them down beside me.

That was the mistake. I then made a conscious decision to keep climbing. I was climbing strong, if I'm just careful with my eyes I'll be ok. Should I improvise the old Eskimo glasses? Well I'm going real light, and the only fabic I have I'm wearing, and I don't want to tear up my expensive shit. Beside, the thin, technical fabrics these days are great, but they ain't exactly seal skin. So I would squintingly survey the route ahead, and climb with my eyes closed for 5-10 feet. Rinse and repeat.

Of course this means I'm moving slower. It's late afternoon, and the sunhit on this west face has now been a few hours. The snow and ice is getting scetchy scetchy. My eyes are getting that tired, sandy feeling. 300 feet from the top, it's time to turn around. Passed time, really.

So now I'm downclimbing in precarious conditions. I notice weather coming from the West. Barely able to see. Scared shitless of falling, but saving my eyes is almost as important as not falling because if I can't find my bivy (where I left most of my gear) it's going to be an awfully cold night, at best. So I'm slowly feeling my way down.

The awesome thing about winter soloing is that you are often truly alone. There was nobody else on the entire massiff, nor in any of the drainages. Awesome! Better find your bivy, fucktard.

The rest of the story is a boring sufferfest, but I made it to my bivy and got out of there.

I've had 3 mistakes, none really dangerous but they remnd me to check and double check my setups. 1) my buddy was leading an .8. it was his 2nd or 3rd lead, got to the anchors, reached up, grabbed them and yelled take, as if he was on toprope. If i wasnt watching him closely i'd have pulled him off the wall. 2) end of a 3 day climbing trip and we wanted to burn out on our last day so we climbed some routes a little below our grade, We were 5 routes in and i was doing this little arete and somehow i managed to clip in above me , then somehow the rope clipped itself again below me. So it ran up, back down then back up to me. I downclimbed and unclipped it only to have the rope knot below my belays atc. so i had to clip into a hanger while he went off belay and untied the knot. It was a clusterfuck. 3) pulled the rope with a knot at the end of it(you know, the knot u tie to keep the end of a rope passing thru your rappel device). I noticed it only20" off the ground so it was an easy retrieval.

2) end of a 3 day climbing trip and we wanted to burn out on our last day so we climbed some routes a little below our grade, We were 5 routes in and i was doing this little arete and somehow i managed to clip in above me , then somehow the rope clipped itself again below me. So it ran up, back down then back up to me. I downclimbed and unclipped it only to have the rope knot below my belays atc. so i had to clip into a hanger while he went off belay and untied the knot. It was a clusterfuck.

end of a 3 day climbing trip and we wanted to burn out on our last day so we climbed some routes a little below our grade, We were 5 routes in and i was doing this little arete and somehow i managed to clip in above me , then somehow the rope clipped itself again below me. So it ran up, back down then back up to me. I downclimbed and unclipped it only to have the rope knot below my belays atc. so i had to clip into a hanger while he went off belay and untied the knot. It was a clusterfuck.

Now that's funny, you might want to google z-clipping and try to avoid it in the future.

2) end of a 3 day climbing trip and we wanted to burn out on our last day so we climbed some routes a little below our grade, We were 5 routes in and i was doing this little arete and somehow i managed to clip in above me , then somehow the rope clipped itself again below me. So it ran up, back down then back up to me. I downclimbed and unclipped it only to have the rope knot below my belays atc.

Damn I wish I had that high-tech self clipping rope. It would make those overhung 5.12s far easier.

end of a 3 day climbing trip and we wanted to burn out on our last day so we climbed some routes a little below our grade, We were 5 routes in and i was doing this little arete and somehow i managed to clip in above me , then somehow the rope clipped itself again below me. So it ran up, back down then back up to me. I downclimbed and unclipped it only to have the rope knot below my belays atc. so i had to clip into a hanger while he went off belay and untied the knot. It was a clusterfuck. quote]

Now that's funny, you might want to google z-clipping and try to avoid it in the future.

You might want to Google cheesetitting and try to avoid it in the future.

end of a 3 day climbing trip and we wanted to burn out on our last day so we climbed some routes a little below our grade, We were 5 routes in and i was doing this little arete and somehow i managed to clip in above me , then somehow the rope clipped itself again below me. So it ran up, back down then back up to me. I downclimbed and unclipped it only to have the rope knot below my belays atc. so i had to clip into a hanger while he went off belay and untied the knot. It was a clusterfuck. quote]

Now that's funny, you might want to google z-clipping and try to avoid it in the future.

You might want to Google cheesetitting and try to avoid it in the future.

end of a 3 day climbing trip and we wanted to burn out on our last day so we climbed some routes a little below our grade, We were 5 routes in and i was doing this little arete and somehow i managed to clip in above me , then somehow the rope clipped itself again below me. So it ran up, back down then back up to me. I downclimbed and unclipped it only to have the rope knot below my belays atc. so i had to clip into a hanger while he went off belay and untied the knot. It was a clusterfuck. quote]

Now that's funny, you might want to google z-clipping and try to avoid it in the future.

You might want to Google cheesetitting and try to avoid it in the future.

The irony here is causing my head to explode.

Wow, that is embarrassing! That's what I get for not proofing. Luckily, cheesetitting is far less dangerous than Z-clipping.

I can only remember 2 mistakes. My shitfests are entered into by conscious decision. One was nearly lowering off the end off the rope. The other...

Winter solo. Snow and ice climb. I start heading up at dusk. Bivy about 1am, and catch a few hours sleep. Up again and climbing, the sun comes up, I reach for my sunglasses....and they're not there. Then I remember sitting on the tailgate to tie my boots and setting them down beside me.

That was the mistake. I then made a conscious decision to keep climbing. I was climbing strong, if I'm just careful with my eyes I'll be ok. Should I improvise the old Eskimo glasses? Well I'm going real light, and the only fabic I have I'm wearing, and I don't want to tear up my expensive shit. Beside, the thin, technical fabrics these days are great, but they ain't exactly seal skin. So I would squintingly survey the route ahead, and climb with my eyes closed for 5-10 feet. Rinse and repeat.

Of course this means I'm moving slower. It's late afternoon, and the sunhit on this west face has now been a few hours. The snow and ice is getting scetchy scetchy. My eyes are getting that tired, sandy feeling. 300 feet from the top, it's time to turn around. Passed time, really.

So now I'm downclimbing in precarious conditions. I notice weather coming from the West. Barely able to see. Scared shitless of falling, but saving my eyes is almost as important as not falling because if I can't find my bivy (where I left most of my gear) it's going to be an awfully cold night, at best. So I'm slowly feeling my way down.

The awesome thing about winter soloing is that you are often truly alone. There was nobody else on the entire massiff, nor in any of the drainages. Awesome! Better find your bivy, fucktard.

The rest of the story is a boring sufferfest, but I made it to my bivy and got out of there.

I can only remember 2 mistakes. My shitfests are entered into by conscious decision. One was nearly lowering off the end off the rope. The other...

Winter solo. Snow and ice climb. I start heading up at dusk. Bivy about 1am, and catch a few hours sleep. Up again and climbing, the sun comes up, I reach for my sunglasses....and they're not there. Then I remember sitting on the tailgate to tie my boots and setting them down beside me.

That was the mistake. I then made a conscious decision to keep climbing. I was climbing strong, if I'm just careful with my eyes I'll be ok. Should I improvise the old Eskimo glasses? Well I'm going real light, and the only fabic I have I'm wearing, and I don't want to tear up my expensive shit. Beside, the thin, technical fabrics these days are great, but they ain't exactly seal skin. So I would squintingly survey the route ahead, and climb with my eyes closed for 5-10 feet. Rinse and repeat.

Of course this means I'm moving slower. It's late afternoon, and the sunhit on this west face has now been a few hours. The snow and ice is getting scetchy scetchy. My eyes are getting that tired, sandy feeling. 300 feet from the top, it's time to turn around. Passed time, really.

So now I'm downclimbing in precarious conditions. I notice weather coming from the West. Barely able to see. Scared shitless of falling, but saving my eyes is almost as important as not falling because if I can't find my bivy (where I left most of my gear) it's going to be an awfully cold night, at best. So I'm slowly feeling my way down.

The awesome thing about winter soloing is that you are often truly alone. There was nobody else on the entire massiff, nor in any of the drainages. Awesome! Better find your bivy, fucktard.

The rest of the story is a boring sufferfest, but I made it to my bivy and got out of there.

Sunglasses are safety gear, don't forget them.

Would you concider yourself incompetent?

At the time I was not 100% competent at always fully considering the implications of changing plan mid climb. I am now.

I can only remember 2 mistakes. My shitfests are entered into by conscious decision. One was nearly lowering off the end off the rope. The other...

Winter solo. Snow and ice climb. I start heading up at dusk. Bivy about 1am, and catch a few hours sleep. Up again and climbing, the sun comes up, I reach for my sunglasses....and they're not there. Then I remember sitting on the tailgate to tie my boots and setting them down beside me.

That was the mistake. I then made a conscious decision to keep climbing. I was climbing strong, if I'm just careful with my eyes I'll be ok. Should I improvise the old Eskimo glasses? Well I'm going real light, and the only fabic I have I'm wearing, and I don't want to tear up my expensive shit. Beside, the thin, technical fabrics these days are great, but they ain't exactly seal skin. So I would squintingly survey the route ahead, and climb with my eyes closed for 5-10 feet. Rinse and repeat.

Of course this means I'm moving slower. It's late afternoon, and the sunhit on this west face has now been a few hours. The snow and ice is getting scetchy scetchy. My eyes are getting that tired, sandy feeling. 300 feet from the top, it's time to turn around. Passed time, really.

So now I'm downclimbing in precarious conditions. I notice weather coming from the West. Barely able to see. Scared shitless of falling, but saving my eyes is almost as important as not falling because if I can't find my bivy (where I left most of my gear) it's going to be an awfully cold night, at best. So I'm slowly feeling my way down.

The awesome thing about winter soloing is that you are often truly alone. There was nobody else on the entire massiff, nor in any of the drainages. Awesome! Better find your bivy, fucktard.

The rest of the story is a boring sufferfest, but I made it to my bivy and got out of there.

Sunglasses are safety gear, don't forget them.

Would you concider yourself incompetent?

At the time I was not 100% competent at always fully considering the implications of changing plan mid climb. I am now.

I can only remember 2 mistakes. My shitfests are entered into by conscious decision. One was nearly lowering off the end off the rope. The other...

Winter solo. Snow and ice climb. I start heading up at dusk. Bivy about 1am, and catch a few hours sleep. Up again and climbing, the sun comes up, I reach for my sunglasses....and they're not there. Then I remember sitting on the tailgate to tie my boots and setting them down beside me.

That was the mistake. I then made a conscious decision to keep climbing. I was climbing strong, if I'm just careful with my eyes I'll be ok. Should I improvise the old Eskimo glasses? Well I'm going real light, and the only fabic I have I'm wearing, and I don't want to tear up my expensive shit. Beside, the thin, technical fabrics these days are great, but they ain't exactly seal skin. So I would squintingly survey the route ahead, and climb with my eyes closed for 5-10 feet. Rinse and repeat.

Of course this means I'm moving slower. It's late afternoon, and the sunhit on this west face has now been a few hours. The snow and ice is getting scetchy scetchy. My eyes are getting that tired, sandy feeling. 300 feet from the top, it's time to turn around. Passed time, really.

So now I'm downclimbing in precarious conditions. I notice weather coming from the West. Barely able to see. Scared shitless of falling, but saving my eyes is almost as important as not falling because if I can't find my bivy (where I left most of my gear) it's going to be an awfully cold night, at best. So I'm slowly feeling my way down.

The awesome thing about winter soloing is that you are often truly alone. There was nobody else on the entire massiff, nor in any of the drainages. Awesome! Better find your bivy, fucktard.

The rest of the story is a boring sufferfest, but I made it to my bivy and got out of there.

Sunglasses are safety gear, don't forget them.

Would you concider yourself incompetent?

At the time I was not 100% competent at always fully considering the implications of changing plan mid climb. I am now.

last winter I met up to climb for the first time with someone at the Delaware water gap. The guy was a very experienced leader. I let it be known that I didn't have much experience in multipitch climbing, but also that I had been climbing for a while otherwise. We get to the bottom of the route, a 5.4 and the guy breaks out his half-ropes and asks if I'd ever belayed with halves before. I had, and told him so as I flaked out one of the ropes, trying not to look the part of the complete noob (that I was).

He leads the route, sets up anchor, and starts belaying me up, but as I climb see that the rope isn't being taken up. I yell "Take" and keep climbing; it was 5.4 after all. I don't realize what was happening until I got to the first piece of pro, 30 or so feet off the deck. One of the half ropes was kinking. I couldn't tell on the ground, but the rope kinked in a way that it wrapped around the sling of the first piece of pro and wouldn't let my leader take the slack! I yell "Take" again, but still there's slack, and now the slack is kinking and twisting the ropes at my tie-in.

I get to the second piece of pro, and the third, and at each piece the same problem is occurring. I have a mini-panic attack and realize that I'm not really on belay anymore. For a moment I consider the ropes uncoiling and bunjie-cording me to safety if I fell, but I nixed that idea pretty quickly. I've never really solo'd, but I continued to climb in what I imagine a solo-mindset to be.

Finally, I set to a point where I can talk to my belayer. He asked how it was going and I calmly explained my situation. We made sure I was in a good stance, and with only one piece of pro between us now he was able to take up all the slack as I unwound the giant rope-wad that I'd been climbing with.

In the end, all was well. We finished the climb and in the end it was a good day, but I won't forget what happened, especially since it was probably me, trying not to be a noob, who f'd up the flake and messed up the ropes so badly.

I know this was an old post but i was just reading through them all, if no one has mentioned it to you yet, word of advice: always weight your rappel and then double/triple check it before unclipping to complete the rappel. Peace of mind and will help straighten things out to ease the double checks. Once in a while you cant do this due to the nature of the rappel but its rare.

Shit man. Glad to see you made it out of that one okay. My biggest screw up is I tied into just the leg tie in point, and my belay loop (thinking it was the waist tie in point). I totally missed the waist tie in point. Almost took a lead fall on that. When I saw it, I got nervous enough where adrenaline pushed me through the crux. I'm sure I COULD have taken the lead fall onto it, but...still...falling and flipping isn't a part of my to do list when I go out.

Shit man. Glad to see you made it out of that one okay. My biggest screw up is I tied into just the leg tie in point, and my belay loop (thinking it was the waist tie in point). I totally missed the waist tie in point. Almost took a lead fall on that. When I saw it, I got nervous enough where adrenaline pushed me through the crux. I'm sure I COULD have taken the lead fall onto it, but...still...falling and flipping isn't a part of my to do list when I go out.